PETALING JAYA: Wingback Rizal Ghazali will save the best for last with Sabah before starting afresh next year.
The 31-year-old’s two-year stint with Sabah ends on Dec 31.
Rizal was involved in his team’s last international tournament where they lost 1-3 in the AFC Cup final Group H game against Indonesian club PSM Makassar at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu on Thursday.
His last domestic tournament will be the match against Kedah in the Super League at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu tomorrow.
He has yet to announce his new team but he could return to his former club Kedah. He was photographed with his former teammate Baddrol Bakhtiar, who is the Gurun state assemblyman, recently.
It seems like Terengganu and Penang have also shown some interest in him.
Rizal said he would return to Kedah to look after his ageing parents first.
“I met up with Baddrol and the photo went viral but it’s just a meeting between friends, and we did discuss on forming a team at his constituency,” said Rizal.
“I’ll be back here with my folks. They are getting old and it is best for me to be them.
Rizal wants his last outing with Sabah to be memorable.
“We will be facing my former club in Likas. We surely want to end the season well by finishing third,” said Rizal.
A win would see them leapfrog the Canaries, who are in third position with 53 points. Sabah are fourth with 51.
“It’s indeed an important game.
“We have a chance to finish third and it’s our last game of the year in front of our home fans,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sabah coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee hopes the team will end the season with flourish after losing to Makassar.
“We could not finish all the chances we created. It was not a good result,” he said.
Makassar’s goals were scored by Yakub Sayuri (15th minute), an own goal from Sabah centreback Dominic Tan (36th) and Brazilian striker Everton Mendonca (90th). Sabah’s goal was scored by Portuguese midfielder Telmo Castanheira (73rd).
Sabah still topped Group H despite the defeat with 12 points and have qualified for the Asean zone semi-finals.
